


Certainty

by cosmicenergy



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Annabeth and Percy's relationship makes me emo, Comfort, F/M, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-14
Updated: 2020-05-14
Packaged: 2021-03-03 00:41:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,233
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24176017
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cosmicenergy/pseuds/cosmicenergy
Summary: A study of Percy and Annabeth’s relationship throughout the series, and then some, through Annabeth’s eyes.
Relationships: Annabeth Chase & Percy Jackson, Annabeth Chase/Percy Jackson
Comments: 9
Kudos: 139





	Certainty

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first thing i’ve written in ages, but I got inspired & this is what we got folks. Also i know that this deviates from canon but like i got emo so I made this emo, whoops.

Annabeth always liked certainty.

She liked fact and stability almost more than anything else. If she could be anything, she told herself that’s what she would be.

She wouldn’t disappear, she told herself, like everyone else in her life. She wouldn’t be like her father and step-mother, or even her own mother. She would remain solid even if the ground below her was shifting beneath her own two feet.

But life, Annabeth came to realize, was anything but certain.

-

Nothing but uncertainty came from the new camper that arrived, Annabeth had concluded to herself. He was small and confused, with a mop of dark black hair and tanned skin. His arrival at camp was nothing short of out of the ordinary, and Annabeth was unsure what to make of it.

Though she had to admit, it was impressive he killed the minotaur all by himself, though she’s not sure if the satyr that brought him had anything to do with it.

Annabeth looked down at that same boy laying down in the bed before her and her eyes softened ever so slightly. She saw him beginning to stir, and noticed a trail of spit dripping down his chin and laughed to herself. His eyes flickered open; the sea-green color was striking and Annabeth felt as though she could see the ocean swirling around inside them

“You drool in your sleep,” she said, and the boy looked confused for a moment before sheepishly wiping his mouth.

It wasn’t until much later that night, when she laid in her bed unable to fall asleep did she remember those eyes. The color flooded her vision and she couldn’t shake the feeling that she should remember them. She felt like she knew those eyes, like she knew the soul that they were connected to. Looking into his eyes was like looking into those of an old friend, or someone from another lifetime.

It was an indescribable feeling, one that Annabeth could only equate to delusion. After all, they had never met before and she was running on a few hours of sleep.

Persesus Jackson, she thought to herself, his name floating around in her head as if it belonged there. She laid there, wondering about the boy and his past and who his godly parent would be until sleep came over her.  
-  
When he was claimed by Poseidon, days later, Annabeth’s entire world came crashing down. Or, more accurately, it seemed to all come together; the pieces that were Perseus jackson that she had been collecting all came together to finally make some goddamn sense. The trident symbol glowed above Percy’s head, illuminating the river that Percy was standing in. Like magic, the cuts on his arms began to heal and the river began to sway around him, as though he was calling to it.

He stood there, arms limp at his sides as the water subsided from around him before retracting completely back into the riverbed.

They locked eyes as Chiron called out “Poseidon, earthshaker, stormbringer, father of horses.”  
His green eyes were swimming again, shining bright from the light above him, but this time with more ferocity and confusion than Annabeth had assumed was possible.

“Hail, Perseus Jackson, Son of the Sea God.”

-

Then, they went on a quest. And another quest, and even another after that.

It was exciting, and something that Annabeth had been looking forward to for years. But with it came uncertainty; uncertainty that surrounded the fates of her and her friends.

Despite their differences, despite Athena and Poseidon, Percy and Annabeth became friends. He was someone that she could trust, that wouldn’t disappear overnight, until he did.

The last thing Annabeth remembered was kissing him in the volcano before pulling on her invisibility cap and running like her life depended on it, which it did. She had no idea, though, how she made it out alive as her vision was streaked with tears and her heart was pounding so hard she thought it was going to burst through her chest.

After that, she felt numb. The kiss that they shared felt so real, so personal, so Percy, and Annabeth regretted not doing it sooner. Then maybe they could have done it again, then maybe she could have seen his reaction and known if he was smiling at her in that goofy way he always does when he looks at her.

He was her best friend, her Percy, and just like that he was gone. She was certain that he would be the one to stick around, to stay by her side through whatever, and then suddenly he wasn’t.

He was ripped from her, taken away unjustly and she hated it. She didn’t want to believe that he had died, and though her heart was aching deep down her gut was telling her she would see him again.

Instead of reassuring her, or providing her some certainty that he was indeed okay, the feeling just made her sick. She remembers the first night back at camp, returning without him. She remembers the looks from the other campers, the stares, the sad expressions written all over their faces.

She remembers walking to the lake that night, long after the rest of the campers had gone to bed and Chiron had finally disappeared from her side. She remembers gazing across the water's edge and looking up into the sky at the moon. It showed down on her, illuminating the emptiness of the space next to her that Percy usually filled.

And she remembers crying, sitting down at the edge of the dock sobbing until her lungs burned and her throat felt raw. She remembers cursing the gods for taking him away, for taking away her best friend, _her Percy_. But the night had brought her no answers, and neither did the sunrise that followed.

For days Annabeth was numb. She felt empty, raw, broken. The uncertainty that she had worked so hard to push away came crawling back every time she let her thoughts wander. Why him, she asked herself again and again, until her thoughts were just a jumbled mess of Percy, Percy, Percy.

They had even had a proper funeral. The hours leading up to it seemed to crawl by, as Annabeth found herself unable to compose her thoughts. It’s so hard to function, she thought as she approached the campfire, when it feels like half your soul has been taken from you.

Throughout the ceremony, it was like Annabeth wasn’t even there. Her mind continued to wander, unable to take her thoughts away from the fact that Percy really was gone. That he wasn’t coming back, that she would never get to hug him again.

That Percy… was right there?

“Percy?” she called out, voice cracking as her eyes focused on the boy in front of her. There was no way it was him, there’s no way he wasn’t dead. But it was Percy, in all his glory, standing at the edge of the hill looking very sheepish and also confused.

The campers eyes turned up to look at him, gasps echoed around the group, and Annabeth couldn’t believe her eyes.

“Hey,” he said, voice echoing down the hill and slamming into her like a brick wall. “Did I miss something?”

Before she could even think, Annabeth felt herself dropping the robe in her hands and running, unable to stop herself before crashing into him. She felt his arms tighten around her as her lungs ached from the impact. It really was him, her best friend wasn’t dead, though she had no clue how.

She pulled away and saw Percy's face fall, and though she wanted nothing more to never let him go, she was pissed.

“Don’t ever do that again,” she said, hands shaking as they clutched the front of his shirt. “You’re not allowed to leave me again.”

Percy laughed, the sound so gentle and breathless that it washed over Annabeth like a wave.

“I won’t,” he said, green eyes meeting gray. “I promise.”

-

  
Percy kept his promise. Through it all, even the war, he stayed by her side.

She was his Achilles’s heel, his point of vulnerability, what connected him to the human world. He was her pillar, her structure and stability, her certainty. Annabeth wouldn’t have it any other way.

Except for the part when she got stabbed. That hurt a bit.

It wasn’t like she meant to get stabbed, really. In fact, she would have preferred almost any other alternative cause that shit hurt. But moments before she had jumped in front of Percy, she had gotten that gut feeling again. The one that surfaced for the first time when he was claimed, the one that came back when she thought he had died.

She didn’t know why, but she knew she had to make that leap of faith.

Later, when Percy was hovering over her, his sea-green eyes swimming with concern and anger, was when it finally all made sense.

“You’re what connects me to the real world,” he had told her, placing her hand at the small of his back. “You keep me human.”

And despite all the pain, all the uncertainty, all the fear, Annabeth beamed. She was his certainty just as much as he was hers.

When he finally had to leave her side, though Annabeth could tell he didn’t want to, she grabbed his hand and laced their fingers together. Percy stilled for a moment, pausing to hover over her while looking at their intertwined hands.

Just like our fates, Annabeth thought as she looked at their hands, we’re intertwined.

Instead, it was Percy leaning down and kissing her, soft and gentle as though she would break if he did it any harder. She could feel the pressure of his lips against hers holding back, like a damn just waiting to be broken. With her free hand, careful to not move her side too much, she wove her fingers into the back of his hair and pulled him closer, as if to say I’ll be okay and answer a thousand unspoken questions that floated between them.

“Percy,” she said when he finally pulled away. Their eyes locked again, and a thousand words were spoken without uttering a single one. He cracked a smile, the same goofy one that Annabeth loved.

“Yeah I know, Annabeth, I’ll be careful.”

-

Annabeth didn’t think she would ever be happier than the moment Percy turned down immortality. She remembered looking across the room at him, seeing his eyes filled with passion and hope and love, and she remembered the way his lips moved as he told his father that he would rather say a mortal.

Annabeth didn’t think it was possible to love a person more than in that very moment.

It was only when the campers threw them in the lake later that night, chanting and happy as they dropped Annabeth and Percy into the water when she realized she was wrong.

As the air bubble formed around them and Percy drew her closer, Annabeth let out a laugh. Percy beamed as he touched their foreheads together, his breath warm against her lips.

“I think they forgot I am Poseidon’s son,” Percy mumbled against her mouth.

“Me too,” she said before leaning in, removing the gap between them. His lips were as salty as the water, but warm against hers. Her heart felt as full as the lake when he pulled away from her, locking eyes.

It was those eyes, those sea-green swirling eyes, that Annabeth would never get tired at looking at. They were filled with such passion and drive and love that Annabeth couldn’t bring herself to look away.

When Percy told her that he loved her, under the water in the lake, in an air bubble with fish swimming around them, Annabeth had never been happier. His eyes shone bright with happiness when she said it back, though Annabeth knew neither of them really had to say any words. What she felt didn’t even need words to be expressed.

In that moment, it was like the dam had broken, the cracks in the wall that Annabeth worked so hard to keep together flying apart, letting the water spill out. Percy, son of the sea god, earthshaker, stormbringer, had carved a way into her heart and into her soul that no other human or god could possibly fill.

-

Years had passed by since they had kissed in the lake, but Percy stayed by her side.

He was by her side through the rest of their summers at camp, through the school year when Annabeth worried about college and classes, and through all the times inbetween. He was there for holidays and birthdays and anniversaries and ‘congrats! you passed your finals’ ice cream dates and movie watching parties and everything in between.

When Annabeth said that they should go visit Montauk, like Percy and his mom used to do when he was young, he was ecstatic.

“You’re going to love it,” he said to her as they got in the car. “I can’t believe we’re almost 24 and I haven’t taken you yet.”

Annabeth shrugged, buckling her seatbelt. “We’ve been pretty busy.”

He laughed, because they both knew that was an understatement.

“Seriously though, you’re going to love it,” Percy said, looking over at her from the driver’s seat.

“I know I will.”

And he was right, the beach was beautiful and everything about the place reminded her of him. Of her Percy.

From the house that they were staying in to the sand tha coated the beach to the water that stretched out as far as the eye could see. The ocean air, salty and cool, smelled just like Percy. And though she had joked about him smelling like fish because of it, she wouldn’t change a thing.

Late one night, as they walked along the beach, Percy pulled her to a stop. They were at the water’s edge, and a full moon was floating over the horizon. He looked at her, then back to the scenery, then back to her again, as if he couldn’t decide which one was more important to look at.

She took his hand and squeezed it, earning her one of his best smiles of the evening. He kissed her on the forehead before pulling her to the ground to sit next to him. They sat there for a while, the calm movement of the ocean lulling them into a comfortable silence.

“Hey Annabeth?” Percy asked, voice soft as the water that rose and fell from the pull of the moon. The night had begun to shift around them, as if Percy’s words disrupted the peace. She could hear in his voice that he was thinking, but Annabeth had no clue what it was about.

She felt the space between them change, as if something new and foreign had moved into its place. She could feel it hardening, the gap between their bodies becoming farther and farther apart without either of them moving a single inch.

She was about to reply before something stopped her. Her voice was caught in her throat like fish in a net while her heart pounded away against the walls of her ribcage. In the moment, she noticed that Percy never really stopped moving, focused on the way his hands were knotting together, weaving in and out in his lap.

Percy never stopped. He was like a river, coursing through with all the power that nature could offer. He, like the water, carved his way into everything he did, leaving permanent reminders of where he had been and who he had touched. He had broken through the walls that had surrounded Annabeth’s heart, the ones that she built up to keep everyone out.

Percy, like nature, couldn’t be stopped.

“Annabeth,” he asked again, hands pausing for a second as the words came out of his mouth. “Can I tell you something?”

Annabeth closed her eyes. In that moment, she could feel every place his hands had ever touched. Every time he had held her hand or kissed her lips or dragged his fingers over her stomach. She knew how it felt when she kissed his forehead and ruffled his hair and hugged him from behind.

He was looking at her now, the sea that stretched out before them completely forgotten about.

“Sometimes I think I think too much,” he said, and Annabeth laughed, bringing up a hand to his cheek.

“Me too, Percy.”

“No,” he said, suddenly becoming serious. “I really think that I think too much, my brain hurts! I’m not cut out for this.”

Annabeth laughed again. “Yeah, I’m sure it’s hard work up there,” she said playfully, placing a kiss on his cheek. Percy smiled again.

“You know what I don’t think too much about, though?” He asked, eyes meeting hers.

“What?”

“You.”

Annabeth felt her face flush, but she couldn’t bring herself to break their eye contact.

“I think about you all the time,” he said, running a hand through his hair. “I think about you in the mornings, when we’re laying in bed and you’re sleeping and I can watch you drool in peace. I think about you in the afternoon when you’re reading a book and laughing to yourself. I think about you at night when you’re cuddled up next to me and there’s nowhere else I’d rather be in the world.

I’ve thought about you ever since we met. I don’t think that I’ll ever be able to stop, honestly.”

Annabeth didn’t realize she was crying until Percy lifted a hand to her cheek, wiping away the tears that flowed from her eyes.

“I love you,” she said, eyes shining in the moonlight.

“I love you too, Annabeth.”

Silence fell between them, as they stared at each other, unwilling to say something else for fear of ruining the moment. Percy kissed her, and it was soft and something Annabeth never wanted him to stop doing.

When they broke, their noses were touching, hands intertwined as Percy ran his thumb over hers. She heard him take in a shaky breath before opening her eyes to realize that he was already watching her.

“Annabeth,” he said, voice low and quiet.

She didn’t answer, simply listening to the crashing of the waves as she waited for him to continue.

“I want to marry you.”

Before he could say anything else Annabeth flug herself at him, wrapping her arms around his neck as they fell back into the sand.

“I don’t have a ring or anything yet, ‘cause I figured you would want to help pick it out,” he said, mumbling words into her hair. “And also ‘cause my mom would kill me if I didn’t let her come with us to help.”

Annabeth, with tears streaming down her face, let out a laugh.

“Of course, Percy.”

Percy pulled back immediately, studying her face as if to check that she was being serious.

“I want to marry you too, Percy.”

Annabeth was wrong again. She thought the happiest she would ever be was when they kissed in the lake, but when she said that, those seven words, Percy broke out into the biggest smile she had ever seen. It was big and goofy and charming and everything she could ever want.

He was her stability, her certainty, for good.


End file.
